While I expect that most of my readers in the next few months will be my family and friends wanting to know what Im all doing, I don’t want to discourage the idea of strangers enjoying my blog too! ( I will be including lots of pictures!) Therefore, I’ll start out this adventure with an Introduction of who I am and the journey I have already been on. My name is Stephanie, I am a Junior at Iowa State (Gooo Cyclones!) majoring in Apparel Merchandising and Design with a double minor in Event Planning and Hospitality Management! The reason I’ve started this blog is to document my adventures abroad in Florence for the next four months so ill never forget about my adventure. A good friend of mine told me to do this and turn my blog into my book and that's exactly what I'm planning on doing! When I started ISU, I knew that studying abroad would be a priority in my college experience along with a lot of the other girls that I studied with. I really love pushing myself outside my comfort zone. It all started moving 3 hours away from home from my family and friends...doesn't seem like its a big adjustment but for me it was. If you were to ask my college year freshman roomie she would agree with me 100% that I have grown to become a stronger person by pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I also had a great Mentor my Freshman year, her name is Amy Whitman, and I wouldn't be here or who I am without her! She convinced me to give Iowa State and our program a chance and wait it out till Thanksgiving. Waiting and deciding to stay at Iowa State was the best decision of my life besides choosing to travel abroad and study in Florence. Amy if you read this, this post goes out to you because I wouldn't be sitting here writing this if it weren't for you! I promise I will bring something home for you! Someday I hope we can both come back to Florence together! Since moving to college, I moved to Sandpoint, Idaho for the summer to take an Internship which is a whole another experience in itself. That summer was truly a growing experience for me professionally and personally and I'm ready to just keep growing and finding out who I am. I'm going abroad I won’t have the comfort of knowing the language or even the currency. As much as that terrifies me, that is the kind of situation that I thrive in. I don’t like putting my foot in the water, I’d rather just dive right in. I chose Florence because we have a great partnership with the Fashion/Business school at Lorenzo de' Medici and other study abroad students in my major had nothing bad to say about the program here and pushed us to do it! I also was interested in Florence because it has a deep and complex history that I really wanted to learn about. I want to indulge in another culture and learn the Renaissance philosophy, religion and the arts here. To step back from the modern day luxuries I have in America and immerse myself in the Italian history would be an incredible adventure; hopefully I will be able to tell you about more in the weeks to come as I start this new chapter in my life with great friends.